Blackhawks prepare to take on Vancouver

With just six games remaining and a just a single point separating the Blackhawks from the St. Louis Blues and home ice advantage, the wins have never been more important for Chicago. Thursday night’s tilt against the Canucks will be the third time the Blackhawks will have faced Vancouver this season, but they’ve dropped both previous contests this year.

Despite the absence of Patrick Kane, the Blackhawks have managed to keep their scoring up and had a pretty successful March, going 9-1-3. That’s been in part thanks to Jonathan Toews, who has 15 points in the 16 games that Kane’s been out. Recently, the Hawks have also been getting help from some secondary scorers. Andrew Shaw, who scored his 100th NHL point on Wednesday, has five points in his last five games, and Bryan Bickell scored in his last contest to snap a four-game pointless drought. If the Blackhawks win their contest against the Canucks the the Blues lose to the Flames tomorrow, the Blackhawks will leapfrog their rival to take second place in the division.

The Canucks are also battling for playoff position. Though they can’t catch the Ducks ahead of them, they’re looking to fend off the Flames, just four points behind them. Vancouver is also coming off of two straight wins where they outscored their opponents 9-5, so the Blackhawks’ defense will have to be strong to weather the Canucks’ offensive attack.